squiring ♔ justice and goodwill will outlast passion

[wynn]

♬ Troy - James Horner

WHO || Wynn, Pietro Maximoff, Zaihne Cale, Marian Hawke, Ashelia Lavellan, Solas, Risa Eamon, Scott McCall, Smith, Isaac Lahey, Maggie-May West, current Knights attending the ceremony
WHAT || April Squiring Ceremony
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Great Hall
WHEN || April 1st, 2016, 6:00PM
HOW || Actionspam

The impressively large Great Hall of the castle could easily pass as a royal throne room, with its length and the red carpet leading up to a set of steps. However, there is no throne set at the top of them, and the Hall is wide enough to accommodate hundreds of Knights. And indeed, several hundred Knights stand in ranks on either side of the wide stretch of red, each wearing the traditional set of ceremonial armor in their possession.

The newest squires have been fitted to his armor after meeting with Wynn as always. It's traditional for them to appear for the first time before the Knighthood wearing it and they are assured that only a very small number of the Knights make use of their armor for other circumstances. It does, however, create an intimidating sense of unity as they stand shoulder to shoulder in rank and file to receive their newest pledges. There's an air of something unsettling in the air - this is, after all, the first ceremony to be held here since the attack on the castle, and while the room maintains its usual air of majesty, it's hard to ignore that the atmosphere has changed for many Knights who once considered this place unassailable.

They enter together, with a flair of orchestral music that fills the hall with as much pomp as possible. It's a lot like that last scene in A New Hope which seems more appropriate than ever. Yeah, you thought I was going to get through an entire post being all serious, didn't you.

At the top of the steps, Wynn waits, wearing a sword on his belt that canny eyes† might recognize as familiar. Mark has, after all, brought it back with him from Andres - the famed sword, Excalibur.

It's one hell of a long walk past all those staring, curious eyes. Luckily, it's a long musical number.

For additional dice rolling fun (optional):

† Roll or randomize a d20. Those who roll a 15 or above can spot the sword for being the exact same sword that was suspended in the statue above the Round Table, when they met with Wynn in the Prologue.
† Roll a d20 dexterity check. If your character rolls a 2 or 3, at some point during their walk they're bound to stumble. A critical fail will lead to an epic faceplant ... or worse.

Comments

The Ceremony

[wynn]

[ When they have arrived at the far end of the carpet and stand before him, Wynn addresses the would-be squires solemnly by name. ]

Pietro Maximoff. Zaihne Cale. Marian Hawke. Ashelia Lavellan. Solas. Risa Eamon. Scott McCall. Smith. Isaac Lahey. Maggie-May West.

Kneel. And repeat this oath.

The Pledge

[wynn]

[Each line is spoken separately as a call and respond.]

"I swear to defend the Knighthood."

"I swear that I shall protect all weaknesses and shall constitute myself the defender of them."

"I shall not recoil before mine Enemy."

"I shall make war against injustice, without cessation and without mercy."

"I shall never lie, and shall remain faithful to my pledged word."

"I shall be generous, and listen to and respect all."

[And finally, in ringing tones:]

"I shall be everywhere and always the champion of the right and the good against injustice and evil."

[optional rolling; roll a D20 Wisdom check in order to see if your Knight can remember the phrases properly or not so much. Remember that a 10 is an average person's capacity to do so. :) ]

[uncareful]

[ The dice are kind tonight, and Maggie makes it through the pledge without a flub (wis nat 20, 22 total). She'll shoot everyone else a look of what? like it's hard. ]

[shadowmind]

[ so this entire thing is super stressful, she's already screwed up something simple like walking, and now she has to recite something? oh come on. this is dumb.

dumb says the girl who can only barely get it out in the most average way possible (wis 10). on the plus side, she's still alive and she didn't completely trip over it? yeah. sigh.

someone hates her life over here. ]

[hawkeing]

[ hawke's got this. again not as well as maggie-may but still pretty damn well (wis 15).

she does manage to hold herself back from adding on "and tyrannical or justice or vengeance crazed mages" though (will save 27). y'all should be proud of her. ]

[virtutem]

[ Apparently knowing that he has seeing Allison to look forward to after this ceremony has Scott totally on point because he gets the pledge out perfectly (nat 20 wis; 23 total). Lydia would be fucking proud. ]

[trackability]

[ The ex-monster hunter isn't really good at all of this shit (wisdom 6). He follows up all the flubs with a shrug a smile because whatever. He tried. ]

[lichslap]

[Zaihne actually makes it through with flying colors (nat 20), even managing not to flinch when he gets to the part about never lying. If only one part of the ceremony could go smoothly for him, he's glad he managed to avoid doing anything gawk-worthy now.]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe has had enough practice with speaking in front of crowds and participating in various ceremonies that she does well with remembering and reciting each line of the pledge (wis 17), although the tips of her ears still turn red as she nears the end, very conscious of the fact that there are spectators.]

[bythedreadwolf]

[ The words are easy enough to remember for him to remember (Wis 16), it's the offering his vow to a strange organization in a strange world that has him hesitating over a few of the words. But in the end, he makes it through the pledge without so much as a hitch, his words spoken deliberately and strongly, voice ringing clearly in the Hall. ]

[cramped]

[ More than simply managing to not make a fool out of himself in front of a large crowd of people, Isaac actually succeeds at sounding pretty competent (wis15). ]